There are very few advantages to snowstorms, other than possibly prohibiting you from traveling to visit relatives you have zero desire to see, but have obligations to the family to keep. This also allows one to spend time in complete childless solitude opening an indulgent bottle that was meant to be set aside for major victories. My current situation is a small one, but a victory worth having and celebrating with an indulgent companion.
Nose: A complex opening with loads of blackberry, leather, and some sandalwood. There's a bit of roasted coffee playing around the fruit and the leather wears off as it sits. The blackberry, however, never really lays off and eventually takes over.
Palate: Carrying on from the nose, there's a dense concentration of blackberry. The worry that this would be "all fruit, no complexity" wore off with each sip as the spice returned and a touch of mint arrived. With time, the fruit does become a touch brighter, but never off-putting. Tight tannins and a decent amount of acidity.
Finish: Long, with more complexity than the palate. Sandalwood, coffee, and leather meld with a touch of oak to quiet the blackberry and mint down.
I'm not 100% sure opening this was the right move, and at a $50+ asking price, I'm confident there are bottles with just as much complexity at half the cost. This is an investment bottle that will, hopefully, pay some sort of dividend in a few years.
$56